The Power of Resolutions

As part of my fitness plan for the New Year (read: do any fitness), I decided to walk to school at least three times a week. I’ll save money AND I’ll get more exercise, I thought! (Any exercise is more than none.)

Here is the breakdown of how this plan has gone my first two weeks back to school:

Day 1 - Wake up at 8am; must leave house in 50 mins. Forget why I thought walking for a half an hour in -12°C was a good idea. Decide to give myself a “day off”. Drive to school. Pay $21 for parking. Curse self. Resolve to walk tomorrow.

Day 2 - Wake up at 7am; must leave house in 50 mins. Decide that any money is worth an extra 45mins of sleep. Go back to sleep. 45mins later, wake up and offer friend a ride to school so I don’t feel guilty. Decide to drive home between classes and walk back after lunch. Pay $8 to park for morning. Drive home at lunch. Eat lunch. Feel sleepy. Check that temperature is still -15°C. Drive back to school. Pay $8 to park for afternoon. Curse self.

Day 3 - Wake up at 10am; must leave house in 2hrs 20mins. Have leisurely morning in bed with breakfast and internet. Decide to have a shower. Realize it is already twenty past twelve. Decide hygiene is more important than fitness. Drive to school. Pay $10 to park for afternoon. Curse self.

Day 4 - Wake up at 9am feeling groggy and do not attempt to walk to school. Find cheap parking for morning and feel slightly better about self. Drive home at lunch, intending to walk back to school. Have a nap and almost miss second class instead. Do not curse self, but instead feel good about napping.

Day 5 - Class at 8:30am; decide I do not have to walk when class starts at 8:30am, since leaving the house before 8am is ungodly. Offer friend a ride. Friend makes fun of me for not walking all week. Resolve to walk next week.

Day 6 - Temperatures continue to drop. Curse self for living more than 4 mins from the school. Contemplate suicide. Realize I own a car and am not forced to walk. Celebrate life and automobiles by driving to school and finding cheap parking. Rejoice.

Days 7 through 10 - Continue to celebrate life by driving to school. Every so often notice that my ipod has a pedometer, and feel guilty when steps still register at “0”. Make concerted effort not to look at pedometer. Feel better about self.

Of course, now it’s Sunday. It’s sweating hot in my apartment, although currently -11°C outside; I’m comfortable on my couch with my laptop, and this comfort is making me feel once again like I am totally able to walk to school. I will continue to document my struggle with walking half an hour (each way!) as the week continues.

In Which I Am a Grownup

Sometimes I get can’t help but get excited by my own grownup-type productivity. I go to the grocery store. I wash the dishes. I do the laundry. I pay my bills. I make a real pasta dinner with actual noodles and actual sauce (yes, from a bottle, but still very grownup, not even a little bit Kraft Dinner). And then I go and play Paper Mario for four hours.

Yup.

Grownup.

Don’t know how to feel when my list of people who are “similar” to me aren’t people I would necessarily consider “similar” to each other.

Babybel Cheese Girls

On Batman and Hookers

Me: Batman only knows where Sally works. She’s special.
Adam: I believe Batman knows where all the hookers at. “Where all the hookers at,“ one might ask. “I will show you,” Batman would say.

This lead to a discussion on the pluralization of “ho”, which apparently is a matter of some debate.

2022 note: I have no idea what this was and all the links are dead.

Whoa, meta.

(Google Reader opened in Gruml’s browser.)

“We see the emerging opportunity to ‘snackify’ beverages and ‘drinkify’ snacks as the next frontier in food and beverage convenience,” Ms. Nooyi said. … Mehmood Khan, a former Mayo Clinic endocrinologist who heads PepsiCo’s nutrition group, said in an interview that it’s outdated to think that snacks are dry and beverages are wet. “Consumers don’t wake up in the morning and say, ‘I’m going to have a whole grain; I want a dairy product,’” Dr. Khan said. “They’re looking for combinations of those things.” Dr. Khan wouldn’t specify what combinations might come next.

The worst thing I have ever read. Thanks, PepsiCo’s Tropolis Fruit Puree. And thanks Penny Arcade for pointing me there.

Unacceptable.

Hopping on a plane to Toronto

Then it’s a Dash (ha!) back to Kingston. Travel on New Years Day is not optimal, especially travel alone. It would be alright if there was in flight wifi, but that’s asking for too much from Air Canada.

Am I the only one who had sort of a lame New Years Eve?

me: you should clarify the font and not the paper-like material.

Adam: Maybe I just really hate fucking pre-paper. Use regular paper, Egyptians. What, are you too good for us?

(Simple) New Years Resolutions

Note from 2022 Rachel: all the links below are dead; “booth” is a reference to a site called the daily booth which essentially just allowed you to post selfies and nothing else.

1. Write something real two or three times a week.
2. Procrastinate less when I know I have work to do.
3. Tweet more, tumble more, booth more.
4. Keep positive (rather than just keeping calm) and carry on.
5. Be internet famous.

Had a super busy day converting oxygen into carbon dioxide.

Pixel Wars - Star Wars — The Empire Strikes Back: The Pixelated Edition - by Andy Rash

Barbara: Is it exhausting being so awesome?
Hyperbole: Yes it is, Barbara. The weight of my awesomeness is a heavy load to bear. It’s like wearing a backpack full of rocks and trying to run uphill as fast as I can. In the snow. And inspirational music is playing in the background, but I can’t hear it because my ears are too full of my own splendor.

From Hyperbole and Half, a blog that makes me happy and brings super joy to my life. You should read it, if you don’t.

Merry Christmas! (source unknown)

You Lack Bread

Stranger: You are in a room with exits north and south. There is a table with a piece of paper on it. What do you do?

You: doodle on the paper for a bit.

Stranger: You have no pen.

You: i always have a sharpie.

Stranger: You pull your trusty Sharpie out of your pocket and doodle some rabbits on the paper.

Stranger: The original writing is now obscured by fluffy tails.

You: cool. now i think i’ll take a nap.

Stranger: You lie down on the carpet and close your eyes.

You: snooze

Stranger: Time passes.

Stranger: Soon, you wake up, feeling well-rested, but sore.

You: i have to pee. is there a bathroom or a chamber pot or something around?

Stranger: You look around, but find nothing.

You: sigh. i guess i’ll go out the north exit in search of a toilet.

Stranger: You walk through north exit. Inside, you find a fridge with a toaster duct-taped to the side.

You: sweet! does it make toast?

Stranger: The toaster appears to work.

You: awesome. then i’ll play with it by shooting the toast across the room.

Stranger: You lack bread. However, to amuse yourself, you press the lever and listen as it springs up.

You: why do i always lack bread? dammit, i knew i should’ve got some when i was at the store.

Stranger: Well, when we knocked you out and brought you here, we took away all bread you had.

You: you bastards.

You: is there any food in the fridge?

Stranger: Inside the fridge, you find some bread, a stick of butter, and a frozen leprechaun.

You: SO I DON’T LACK BREAD AFTER ALL.

Stranger: Well, now you don’t.

You: i’ll make a leprechaun sandwich on toast.

Stranger: You toast the bread and place the leprechaun in between the slices.

Stranger: Leprechaun sandwich had been added to INVENTORY.

via: http://popurls.com/go/omegleconversations.com/l1d24c2474b1e3e78bac99481180c45be [url no longer active, not archived]

People have claimed for centuries that they know when the Rapture is coming, but this time, someone’s finally got it right. They even have billboards and bumper stickers to prove it! The billboards are produced by supporters of a Christian network called Family Radio Inc., and they’ve set up a website to spread the Good Word, WeCanKnow.com. … But how do they really know? Because Family Radio’s founder, Harold Camping, says so. From The Tennessean:

“According to Camping’s prediction, the Rapture will happen exactly 7,000 years from the date that God first warned people about the flood. …

Since one day equals 1,000 years for God, that means there was a 7,000-year interval between the flood and rapture.”

Ugh. 

Save the Date: Jesus Is Coming in May!

Ever want to know who the coolest ladies in cinema are? Well you’re in luck.

(This screen cap can’t capture the joy of the embedded midis and sparkly .gifs.)

Caught on Google Earth